Focus on Global Networking

How can education and research promote European values? This was the question that this year’s International Week at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences revolved around. For one week, participants from 12 countries came together on the Campus St. Pölten and took part in diverse interdisciplinary formats. A special highlight was the presentation of the Gender & Diversity Award.

More than 30 representatives from partner institutions, lecturers, researchers, staff members, students, policymakers, and stakeholders from the regional, national, and international spheres of higher education, research, and innovation were part of this year’s International Week held at the St. Pölten UAS in the last week of November. The guests came from 12 different countries.

International Week: “Connecting Europe!”

The motto of this year’s event was “Connecting Europe! How Education and Research Contribute to European Values”. Both representatives from partner universities and St. Pölten UAS lecturers and researchers provided hands-on insights into projects and initiatives. In a total of five sessions, the participants had the opportunity to engage in exchange on many different topics including the connection of research and teaching, citizen science, open resources for research and teaching, and the establishment of strategic international partnerships and initiatives.

“Internationalisation @ home plays a central role in our institution’s strategy of integrating international perspectives into the everyday lives of our students, lecturers, and staff members. We are thrilled about the keen interest in our International Week”, says Daniela Lohner, Head of the St. Pölten UAS’ International Office.

European University

The participants also had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the activities of the European University E³UDRES². As its coordinator, the St. Pölten UAS manages a network of nine partner universities all over Europe that has set itself the goal of promoting innovation in rural regions.

“We are living in a globalised world, and it is of vital importance that the European Higher Education Area understands itself as an entity. With our European University E³UDRES², we create numerous possibilities for turning this into reality”, emphasises Hannes Raffaseder, UAS CEO and President of the European University E³UDRES².

Platform for International Exchange

Within the framework of the International Week, the St. Pölten UAS offered a diverse international and interdisciplinary programme.

• Go International! Day
  The “Go International! Day” with its “Partner University Fair” made it possible for students and staff members to establish first contacts with partner institutions and to attend information events on mobility and funding options.

• Teaching Staff Week
  In the course of the Teaching Staff Week, lecturers from partner universities taught in various courses on a wide spectrum of topics at the St. Pölten UAS for a week.
  
  
• Blended Intensive Programme “International Railway Technology and Operations + Calculate CO2 Footprint: Practical Skills for Climate Change”
  The international participants of the short-term programme gained insights into railway operations and research, and they learned how to calculate the carbon footprint of their personal environment in order to apply sustainable solutions in the private and entrepreneurial fields.

In addition, the 6th International Conference on Creative\Media/Technologies (IConCMT) and the All Around Audio symposium took place, and the Different Brilliant Awards were given away to applied and artistic final theses in design and media production.

All in all, the Campus St. Pölten became a platform for international exchange for a total of 120 guests who came mostly from Europe but also from South Africa, Australia, and the partner countries of the European University E³UDRES².

Gender & Diversity Awards

Within the framework of the International Week, scientific final theses with a reference to Gender & Diversity were awarded prizes once again. With the E³UDRES² category, the St. Pölten UAS underlined its international orientation and honoured Ioana Antonia Tanase from the Politehnica University of Timisoara with an award for her thesis “Comparative Analysis of Intuitive Design Perception between Visually Impaired and Sighted Individuals”.

“The students once again submitted very innovative works that demonstrated the high relevance of equality perspectives in all our research areas”, say Anna Steinberger and Dilara Gündüz, Gender & Diversity Officers at the St. Pölten UAS.

In the bachelor thesis category, Johanna Maria Weingartner from the study programme Marketing & Communication received the award for her work “Auswirkungen von inklusiver Sprache in der Werbung auf das Markenimage“ (on the impact of inclusive language in advertising on brand image). In the master thesis category, Barbara Müller from the study programme Digital Media Production convinced the jury with her thesis “Das weibliche Böse – alt, hässlich, trivial? Analyse der Antagonistinnen in Disney-Animationsfilmen von 1937 bis 2022“ (an analysis of female antagonists in Disney’s animated films).

All awards are endowed with a prize money of 500 EUR each.

The award winners Johanna Maria Weingartner (Bachelor's Theses category, sixth from the left in the picture), Barbara Müller (Master's Theses category, fourth from the right in the picture), and Ioana Antonia Tanase (E³UDRES² category, not in the picture) are delighted about the recognition of their work with the Gender and Diversity Award from FH St. Pölten. (© Emma Karner)

Further information

• International Week
• Gender & Diversity Awards
• European University E³UDRES²
• Blended Intensive Programmes